We have found these bite size Quick ID Guide Books to be really helpful in our outdoor adventures and in our homeschool this year. Sometimes you need a quick reference book to inspire and find just the right facts for a project you are working on, or to toss into a backpack when you are on the trails… trust me no one wants to carry the full blown guide in their pack… a little guide is perfect and if you need to know more then a quick look up on the trail, often leads to deeper research in the more comprehensive guides we have at home.
Introducing the Quick Guides
These little books are absolutely perfect for natural factual outings into the great outdoors. The can’t be tossed into even the smallest backpack and turn an ordinary wander into an outdoor adventure. Otherwise, these books are a homeschoolers delight, they are full of quick facts, they spark curiosity and almost always lead my children on to digging deeper.
Flying Mammals
The book contains forty pages of bat information, literally packed with facts. For each type of bat, for example fruit bats or trident bats, they have clear photographs showing you what the bat looks like, what food they like to eat and how they roost. If you have ever wanted a close up view of bats and to know a little more about echolocation then this is the book for you.
To be honest we didn’t know a lot about bats, we do see them when we are out hiking at dusk… but they are such fast little flitters, that it is really hard to observe them. So we decided to go and look for some resources about them…
- We watched John Muir’s video on how to draw bats. With his bat video he has a printable pdf of a bat for his students to create, so that they can practise their bat drawing from several angles. John Muir Laws, is famous for his nature note booking and sharing his knowledge. He has a long list of videos on youtube, teaching how to draw plants and animals for your nature note booking, it would take years to get through all his work, and we use them quite a bit in our nature study. These videos are suitable for children and their associated adults alike. I love his work, though I have to say, his videos are long and you will also be given pause time to draw… so we never finish them in a day… they take us several days to get through. Short spells with a our nature note booking materials out on the table work better for us.
- One of our favourite Wild life podcasts is The Wild by Chris Morgan and he had an episode all about Bats: Busting the Myths, and if this doesn’t make you want to set up a bat-house in your garden over the summer time, then nothing else will!!!
- Meanwhile, you can learn how to build a bat house and all sorts of amazing bat information over at Batweek.org, which happens to be 24-31 October 2021.
- And of course Usborne Quicklinks has bat: Face-Paint a Bat or download some bats to make bunting.
Avian Architects
This was a real researchers dream, we have a collection of nests that we have found over the years and out they all came for very close examination.
There are so many different types of birds’ nests and only when you start investigating them do you realise that like birds, nests come in all shapes and sizes. Nests are also made from all sorts of materials and you can find them in all sorts of places… there is something intriguing about nests and the world within them, this book also takes a look at the eggs within the nest.
Skullduggery
Inside the cover of each of the books is a quick reference guide, and a ruler so that you can measure your discovery.
Well, out came the skulls in our nature collection and again we had to check through the book very carefully. This book has so many different types of skulls, from elephants and rhinos, to whales and dolphins, to squirrels and mice. With each skull there are photographs of the different types of teeth that each of the mammmels in the book have.
On Track
The last time I blogged about tracks and tracking it was the brilliant Tracker Manual, which is the ultimate guide. This book has the big five, as well as hooves animals and paws, as well as a variety of birds as well as tailed animals and snails.
This little book is perfect for early morning excursions on the sand dunes at dawn… when all you need is this little book to determine who had been on the dunes before you.
And our own mountain has a little klipspringer, with their unusual tracks, that we see from time to time.
And our quick guide to making plaster of paris track casts.
Scatalog
I just need to add that Scatalog is not part of this recently published series… but it definitely fits into the “handy dandy toss in your backpack mini guide category” and we have been using it as a back pack filler for years.
This little book has intrigued my children for years and years… and I think it has been on almost every hike one of my kids has been on, ever.
All the little details, from species to species… who knew how much you could determine about a specific animal, if you take a look at their scat. From their habitat, to their diet… and in the central pages of their book there are quick checklists to help you identify the particular animal that produce the scat you have discovered.
Amazon Affiliate Links for the Book Mentioned in This Post.
This book was given to us for review purposes by Penguin Random House South Africa and Struik Nature. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are entirely our own.